The Catholic Church Goes to War … But will It Win

The leaders of the Catholic Church are apparently stunned by the fact that they’re not exempt from the mandates of Obamacare. Yes, those same leaders stood by and supported it by their silence, their stupidity that this national aberration was good for the common man, or their tacit complicity.

For those of you not currently attuned to the situation, one of Obamacare’s mandates is that it requires all employers that provide health insurance, including faith-based ones, to provide and pay for all forms of contraception, including birth control, which also means abortion-inducing drugs.

The Catholic Church leaders, secular and religious, believed that the Stupak-Pitts amendment would apply the Hyde Amendment’s abortion restrictions, which forbids certain Health and Human Services (HHS) funds from being used to pay for abortions, to Obamacare. Then later in the process, when the President announced and signed an Executive Order that would preclude abortion funding in Obamacare, the Bishops and secular leaders exhaled their collective sigh of relief.

Unfortunately, they were had. Executive Orders are not law and cannot amend legislation. Now, as they proverbially say, the “chickens have come home to roost,” and we have the wailing and gnashing of teeth. The pulpits are hives of activity with Bishops’ letters being read to the flocks, urging all to condemn these secular intrusions into our faith.

I think it goes without saying, that not all Catholics, including this writer, obey the Church’s teachings without question. Catholic women have been using birth control for decades. Unlike the Duggars, most people don’t believe that “God will provide.” Whether or not to have children, and how many is a personal family and privacy decision.

Regardless of whether or not you’re Catholic, the mandates of Obamacare should raise eyebrows and open eyes if they’ve not already done so. The arm of the Federal Government through this specific mandate has intruded into the separation of Church and State. Special interest groups, activists, and certain members of the judiciary who so conveniently and frequently quote and spout First Amendment dictums when it involves the display of creches, crosses, and the use of the word “God” in public buildings, are remarkably quiet.

According to Obama Sr. Campaign strategist, “I think we need to lower our voices.” Really. White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney, pronounced the “decision has already been made.” But has it. We’ve been told there are 70 million Catholics in the US, and let’s say 50% of them vote. Let’s even be more conservative and say that another 50% of that number may use this latest mandate as part of their decision-making process when they go to the voting booth. No matter which way you slice it, that’s a few million votes. And we haven’t even factored in the evangelical vote, nor the votes of other groups who recognize this Obamacare incursion for what it really is. If there’s one thing that Axelrod knows how to do, it’s count.

To use another proverbial phrase, has this latest Obamacare mandate “awakened a sleeping giant,” or will the Catholic Church cave once again to the lure of federal funding. Isn’t that what’s happening all over?